Device for holding candles.



PATBNTBD AUG. 2, 1904.

E. W. GURTISS.

DEVICE FOR HOLDING CANDLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

W/ TNESSES:

Edgar [5422 230 A TTOEN UNITED STATES Patented August 2, 1904.

PATENT OEEIcE.

TO GEORGE FRONHOFER, OF BAKER CITY, OREGON.

DEVICE FOR HOLDING CANDLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent 766,599, dated August 2, 1904.

Application filed May 5,1903. Serial No. 155,727. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDGAR IV. CURTIss, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Baker City, in the county of Baker and State of Oregon, have invented a new and Improved Device for Holding Candles, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to devices for holding candles; and it consists, substantially, in

IQ the construction, organization, and combinations of parts hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

The invention has for its principal object to overcome numerous disadvantages and in- 5 conveniencesattending the use of other devices hitherto devised fora similar purpose and also to provide a device of this kind which is simple in construction and organization, besides being comparatively inexpensive to manufacture and possessing the capacity for long and repeated service.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character referred to comprising fcw parts and one also which is both effective and reliable in the performance of the intended functions thereof.

The above and additional objects are attained by means substantially such as are illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

3 forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a view in perspective representing a candle-holding device embodying the several features of my improvements, the device being shown as fastened to a wall or other upright structure. Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the device, showing the manner of operating the adjustable socket of the candle either 4 for the purposes of insertion or removal of a candle; and Fig. 3 is a sectional view, in enlarged detail, showing the means by which the movable section of the candle-socket is normally maintained in closed relationship with the stationary section of the socket, said view being taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Before proceeding with a more detailed description it may be stated that in the embodiment of my improvements herein shown the device comprises a handle, together with means '50 whereby the device may be attached to a wall or similar structure, and also with other means by which the device may be suspended from any suitable support located in the vicinity of the place at which it may be desired to bring the device into use. In addition to said elements the device also includes a socket for receiving a candle, said socket being of special construction and organization whereby the same is rendered self-adjusting to candles of varying sizes or diameters, and thereby serving to hold a candle securely in place without requiring constant attention thereto on the part of the user of the device, all as will more fully appear from the description which is to follow.

Specific reference being had to the drawings, 1 represents my improved candle-holding device in entirety, the said device comprising a handle 2, substantially of wellknown form, and having secured between the parallel extremities 3 3 thereof the inner portion 4: of a member or spike 5, the outer end of which is tapered to a point, as indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 1, whereby the entire device may be held in any desired elevated position within a mine or other apartment, for instance, by simply driving the said pointed end of the member or spike 5 a suitable distance within one of the side walls of the apart- 8o ment, so that the apartment may be suificiently illuminated by the candle held by the device to enable the miner or other operative to properly carry on his work. Secured to one side of the said member or spike 5, a 5 short distance from the ends of the said extremities 3 3 of the handle, is a hook 6, which in the event of it not being convenient to attach the device to a side support, as already explained, serves as a convenient means for suspending the device from any suitable overhead support, as is apparent. Secured, preferably, to the opposite side of the member or spike 5 in any suitable way is the parallel portion 7 of an outwardly-extending bracket 8, having a curved portion 9, to which is attached or secured, also in any suitable way,

a stationary approximately semicylindrical section 10 of a socket for holding a candle 11, the construction orformation of said socket being completed by a movable substantially cylindrical section 12, integral with which is a thumb-plate 13, formed with upper and lower inwardly-projecting lugs 14 and 15, lapping'corresponding outwardly-projecting lugs 16 and 17, formed integrally with a wing portion 18, which in turn is integral with the stationary section 9 of the candle-socket and normally extends inwardly at a slight angle to the straight portion 13 of the thumb-plate 13, hereinbefore referred to. The said lugs referred to are formed with registering or co inciding openings through which pass the end portions of a headed pin 19, and surrounding said pin is a coiled spring 21, the end 22 of which bears against the inner surface of the said wing portion of the stationary section of the socket, and the end 23 of which bears against the inner surface of the said thumb-plate 13 at or near the lower edge thereof, and in this way it will be seen that on applying pressure to the thumb-plate to carry the same inwardly, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the said movable section 12 of the candle-socket will be carried to an outward position, thereby enabling the candle to be placed against the inner concaved surface of the stationary section of the socket, whereupon by allowing the movable section of the socket to be again closed by the action of the said spring 21 the candle will be securely held in place.

From the construction and organization of the parts thus described it will be seen that the movable section of the candle-socket is self-adjusting tocandles of varying sizes or diameters without requiring separate adjustments thereof whenever different sizes of canseen that the height of the candle may be readily adjusted within the socket and that the candle may be so held as to enable the full consumption thereof by burning without liability of burning the hand of the operator or user and without in any manner subjecting the material of which the device is composed to excessive degrees of heat, and thus may the device be handled with readiness and facility in any of the ordinary uses thereof.

By the vertical adjustment of the candle in the socket I am enabled to balance the holder in a manner to maintain the candle in a substantially Vertical position. When the holder is suspended by means of the hookfrom a ledge or other projection, it is essential that the center of gravity bernaintained as low as possible in order that the hook may not be drawn to one side in a vertical plane either parallel to the spike or at right angles thereto. For this reason when a new candle is inserted in the holder a large portion is permitted to project below the socket, and as it is consumed the candle is occasionally withdrawn and replaced in the holder at a point farther down on the candle.

My clamp permits of ready adjustment, because the pivotal parts are spaced away from the socket and are therefore not liable to be-" come clogged by the grease falling from the candle.

The device is admirably suited to the purposes of miners when at workin mines, as well as to others, and while I have herein represented a certain preferred embodiment of the device it will be understood that I am not limited to the details thereof in practice, since immaterial changes therein may be resorted to coming within the scope of my in-. vention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A device for holding candles, comprising a spike having a handle, a bracket secured to the spike and having a projecting portion of curved contour, a socket-section secured to said member and having a wing portion provided with projecting lugs spaced from the socket-section, a second socket-section adapted to cooperate with the first section provided with an integral wing and thumb-piece, and having projecting lugs spaced from the socketsection and in vertical alinement with said 'whose ends engage different sections, and a hook secured to the spike between the handle and bracket and projecting on the side-opposite the candle-section.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDGAR W. CURTISS.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM SMITH, HATTIE A. MOORE. 

